's Blog: Flickr Brings On the Measurements
January 14, 2008 at 20:09We've always been able to see how many people view our photos on Flickr. Now Flickr brings us more complete stats.
And the best thing is, like everything else at Flickr, it's all free. Now you can see things like:
- referals - where traffic is coming from
- daily totals in a cool chart
- daily hit list
There's a lot to like about Flickr in general, and I've got a lot of ideas about how businesses can take advantage it's many features to involve their customers. Knowing that you can also extract some helpful information in terms of usage is important, particularly if you keep in mind our mantra: If You Can't Measure It, Don't Do It.
I'm use Flickr a lot, both to share images with family and friends but also to see which photos people seem to like. Now I can also see where people who've visited my photos have come from - this was always a big question mark before. For example, it's interesting to know that in the case of my photos, the vast majority of visitors (70%) are people cruising around Flickr as opposed to linking in from Facebook (1%) or my blog (less than 1%).
Why this is important is this: I can measure the results of an initiatives I may decide to take. For instance, I could put some effort into making a bigger deal of what's available on on Flickr page with my friends on Facebook. I don't do much now, so it might be worth adding more links, inviting my friends to comment, etc. If I take that initiative, I will be able to see the results (or lack of results!) pretty quickly, and this will help me determine whether the effort is worth it. And that means I'm leveraging a free social networking site in ways that are measureable.
What's interesting here is that Flickr doesn't have to provide this kind of functionality. But obviously they're smart. They know that by giving users access to real data and real tools, they're application increases in value, not just as a hobby site, but a site that business can use.
